Medford vintage at Concours D' Elegance.
First a little history:
The Concourse d' elegance has a long and rich history. It dates back to 17th-century France, where aristocrats paraded horse-drawn carriages in the parks of Paris during summer weekends and holidays. Over time, carriages gave way to automobiles, and the gatherings became a competition among vehicle owners to be judged on the appearance of their vehicles. The oldest still-extant Concours, the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, is held annually near the Villa d’Este hotel in Cernobbio, on Lake Como in Italy.
The first of these was held in September 1929. Moving international to North America held in 1950 Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Monterey, California. Today it is held in dozens of countries around the world. Adopting the name many car show organizations use Concours guidelines to determine the car judging standards.
That being said in the Netherlands:
The Netherlands Concours d' elegance has been around since 1999 beginging by the Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn, moving to Palace Soestdijk in Baarn/Soestdijk, then in 2024 hosted in Beesd bij the historical Marienwaerdt. The first annual youngtimers concours was held by Wheels events at Wheels Mariënwaerdt in 2026.
Wheels Mariënwaerdt 2026:
The youngtimers concours hosted by the wonderful people at the youngtimer magazine is what we here to discuss, there was 5 classes, sedan & limousines, wieldop warriors, 100 years of Mercedes-Benz, Misfits, and the affordable sportscars. This year it was comprised with 30 cars from a beautifully restored BMW Alpina B12 to a quirky Mazda 121 with the coolest bear wheels I think i have ever seen. Out of the 30 cars in the line up i don't think anyone could have dream up a more diverse line-up. In the midst of it all was the Medford Vintage company car, a long black 2007 Cadillac DTS. I don't think i ever felt more out of place but nevertheless parked in-between a Porsche 924s a citroen xm we stood proud, as did all the cars and their owners. Our Cadillac was entered under the misfits category and won best in class and best story. With a beautifully preserved Audi 100 out of 1986 winning best in show.
Thoughts:
Living in the Netherlands where the government is so focused on putting more electric cars on the roads and a sales market based on small city streets. The behemoth stretching almost 5.5 meters long with a lazy V-8 quietly delivering 295hp is not normal here. I was happy to learn that I am not alone, not only with the love of these older more simple cars. I had the privilege of meeting another Cadillac DTS owner at the show, that lives here in the Netherlands and navigates these European streets like a yacht in the harbor.
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